Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood-based products from one person into the circulatory system of another. Blood transfusions can be life-saving in some situations, such as massive blood loss due to trauma, or can be used to replace blood lost during surgery.
Newborns in respiratory failure who require the life-sustaining support of ECMO also require transfusion of red blood cells. But a new study indicates that the higher volume of these oxygen-carrying blood cells the babies receive, the higher their mortality rate.
Infections in humans caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) represent a major public health problem. Despite the availability of effective protective vaccines, more than 250 million individuals worldwide are chronically infected according to WHO estimates.
Blood transfusion, if performed promptly, is a potentially life-saving intervention for someone losing a lot of blood. However, blood comes in several types, some of which are incompatible with others.